Posts Tagged ‘learning’

learning

Dear Hevreh,
Yesterday (Sunday) I had the pleasure of spending the end of Tisha B'av learning Torah with a number of 20s and 30s who live in Highland Park. Many topics were included in this marathon of learning including...
how Tisha B'av implores us to feel the pain of historical collective trauma,
how we struggle with understanding why bad things happen to seemingly good people,
and how our love affair with Jerusalem revolves around lamenting its destruction and hoping for its rebirth (among other topics).
The conversation was stimulating, variegated, and incisive because we weren't shy to share our own perspectives - our Unique Torah - and we weren't afraid to listen and be moved by the teachings of[...]

learning

Reflection on last week's Friday night service and this week's upcoming storm..."דומה דודי לצבי" (שיר השירים ב:ט), מה צבי זה מדלג מהר להר מבקעה לבקעה מאילן לאילן ומסוכה לסוכה מגדר לגדר, כך הקב"ה מקפץ מבית הכנסת זה לבית הכנסת זה מבית מדרש זה לבית מדרש זה. כל כך למה? כדי לברך ישראל.- שיר השירים רבה פרשה ב"My beloved is like a gazelle" (Song of Songs 2:9), Just as a gazelle skips from mountain to mountain, valley to valley, tree to tree, and dwelling to dwelling, fence to fence, so too the Holy One Blessed Be He skips from this synagogue to that synagogue, from this house of study to that house of study. Why? In order to bless Israel.- Song[...]

learning

(11/20/14),
Most, if not all of us, are aware of the terrible crime committed the other day in a synagogue in Jerusalem. Terrorists murdered a group of Jewish worshippers while the worshippers were standing in the opposite direction -- to the east -- to davven the Amidah, a prayer recited by all Jews everywhere around the world. The symbolism of this horrible moment in an increasingly devastating conflict couldn't be more acute. The davveners were facing towards the center of Jewish worship -- the Temple Mount -- while their murderers attacked in response to purported fears that Jews wanted to take over the Temple Mount for Jewish worship. Despite occasional flare-ups, the fact that Jews pray towards the Temple Mount and Muslims pray[...]

learning

LEARN & PRACTICE HEBREW
Individual Hebrew Practice - Date & Time TBD with Rabbi - Cost TBD
In this independent study program, participants will meet with the rabbi 1-on-1 for 30 minutes to learn and practice their Hebrew. Designed for beginners but open to all, the course will utilize the book “Teach Yourself How to Read Hebrew” as well as online tutorials. During the 1-on-1 meetings, participants will have the opportunity to review the homework in the book or practice a prayer/reading they are learning on their own. If interested, please email Rabbi Saks (ari.saks@gmail.com).
Group Hebrew Practice - 2nd Thursday of the month - 7:00pm - Free
Come to practice your Hebrew skills for 30 minutes on the 2nd Thursday of each month, beginning September 11. Participants will be partnered[...]

learning

Dear Hevreh,
Sometimes we tend to overthink, whether it's in our decision making or in our planning. We can get so caught up in the possibilities of what we can do and, at least in the case of our synagogue programming, trying to be innovative. Sometimes we spend too much time thinking about how to dress up the cover of the "book" we want to teach to make it shinier and more beautiful so more people pay attention. Yet, as is often the case, the most successful way to teach -- or to program or to plan -- is to keep it simple. As is often the case, the most successful way to teach is simply to open the book.
This past[...]

learning

"We know that each individual is part of a large, harmonious system that has been unfolding for millions of years. We honor our ancestors’ struggles to harmonize contradictions, to find calm in paradox, and we are grateful to them for capturing some of that struggle in writing. The Talmud, for example is full of legal discussions, chronicling attempts to resolve opposing opinions about the proper interpretation of Jewish law. It also contains hundreds of stories and anecdotes, examples of the attempts of our ancestors to choose honorable ways to live their lives. Study of sacred texts and wisdom literature is at the heart of the Jewish spiritual path" (Counting the Omer: A Kabbalistic Meditation Guide, p.100)
For other days of the Omer,[...]

learning

Dear Hevreh,Yesterday I wrote about the importance of setting our priorities to do things that are important but not critical otherwise we might never get to those important items. The specific example I raised about myself is the importance of praying and learning every day. As such, I thought it would be appropriate to share with you some of my learning from yesterday which, ironically, was about the importance of prayer.
Rav Nahman of Breslov writes in his book Likkutei Moharan(2:2) that "prayer is the weapon of the messiah" (k'lei zeyno shel moshiah). One of the examples he brings to prove his point is an interpretation of Genesis 48:22, in which Jacob is on his death bed[...]

learning

Dear Hevreh,
I am blessed with the opportunity in my role as your rabbi to make my own schedule, a blessing I treasure especially because I know how many of us are forced to conform to other people's schedules. Yet, no matter how much each one of us is able to choose our schedules, inevitably we are faced with decisions on how to spend our time in which we feel like we our schedule runs our lives as opposed to us running our schedules.
At the beginning of each week, I try to plan how I'm going to spend my time during that week, determining which projects will receive attention and which ones will be put on the back burner. Each week I[...]

learning

2014/5774 (Triennial I) -- Parashat B'shalah: How Do We and God Interact in this World?
Parashat B'shalah, with it's famous story of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, seems to teach us how God can come down to the human world and save human beings, like the Israelites. Yet towards the beginning of the parashah in Exodus 13:8, the Torah teaches us that the Isralites left Egypt "armed" (hamushim) -- why would they need to be armed if God was going to save them from the Egyptians? Shouldn't they just have had faith without the need to physically protect themselves? Or does God want us to protect ourselves before stepping[...]

learning

In this week's Torah portion, God sends snakes to help the Israelites face their fears as they travel through the dessert. Thanks to our friends G-dcast for this interesting, animated description of the week's parashah.
QUESTION TO CONSIDER: What are the fears that each of us face? Why do we have those fears and how can we confront them together? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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Post by Congregation Beth Mordecai.